Dormant Bitcoin Wallet Linked to $293B Lawsuit Moves $3.1M

The transaction, confirmed in block 965,330, marks the first activity for the address in over 14 years. Galaxy Research identified the movement as a shift of approximately $3.1 million, a massive gain from the roughly $3 price point the Bitcoin held when the wallet was first funded in November 2011. While the transfer confirms that an individual holds the necessary private keys, it provides no insight into the identity of the owner or whether the coins were sold.

This movement directly challenges the premise of the ongoing litigation, which relies on New York lost-property law to claim title to allegedly abandoned wallets. Plaintiffs have previously purged 44 addresses from their complaint after similar on-chain activity suggested active control. However, the legal status of the remaining thousands of addresses remains contested. Organizations such as the Digital Chamber and the Bitcoin Policy Institute have formally urged the court to reject the claim, arguing that long-term self-custody does not equate to property abandonment. As the court weighs the application of state law to decentralized assets, the case remains unresolved, with no judgment awarded to the plaintiffs.